On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 2:19 PM, Michael Forster <[email protected]> wrote: >> The web is not *only* an OS. It also provides the backing data for a >> very large unstructured database. Google of course realize this, as >> their company rests on a search engine. The semantic web folks have
> Sorry for the tanget, but there is no such thing as an "unstructured > database." Whether talking about the logical or physical level, a > database is a specfication of data structure (and constraints upon > that data). Dr. Kay once characterised computing as a "pop culture," > and statements such as the above reflect that. I'm assuming you didn't mean to be insulting. Yes, "unstructured database" is a bit of an oxymoron, and I intentionally used the words in this clever way, which humans can not only interpret with ease but often find amusing. Of course, the web *does* have a lot of structure, but it is human structure, not well defined with formal semantics. Like the phrase "unstructured database", humans have no trouble understanding pages on the web, even if the formal semantics gets hairy or even contradictory. "There are multiple <h1> tags on this page! What happened to my organizational hierarchy?" By your characterization, the web also belongs to "pop culture" computing. The web is also the most useful computing environment of our time, and I think it unwise to dismiss it. --scott -- ( http://cscott.net ) _______________________________________________ fonc mailing list [email protected] http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc
